Thursday, April 21, 2011

There isn't a state in this country that has been left untouched by prescription drug abuse and the amount of people affected is only rising. The problem has spiraled out of control so badly that President Obama has focused his attention on the problem. There are a number of areas that could be worked on when it comes to prescription narcotic abuse in America. Obama's new prescription drug prevention plan will work to curb doctor shopping even on an interstate level which would certainly make it harder for addicts to keep the supply flowing. Doctors are going to be screened more intensely to make sure they are qualified to prescribe prescription narcotics. Another area to work on is safe drug disposal sites, places where unused medication can be taken to be destroyed so that they do not end up in the wrong hands.

Obama's new plan comes in the wake of a New York Times report on prescription pain killer abuse in Ohio. Ohio has been hit hard in recent years when it comes to prescription drug abuse and accidental overdoses. Unbelievably, fatal overdoses have more than quadrupled in the last decade and they are now more common than car crashes as a cause of accidental death in Ohio. Ohio Governor John R. Kasich has announced that the state will spend $36 million in new funding to fight prescription drug abuse.

Sadly, adults have not been the only people affected by the pill epidemic taking place throughout the state. In Portsmouth, Ohio, some of the highest rates of prescription drug overdoses in the state have been witnessed, with an increasing number of younger overdose victims. According to Chief of Police, Charles Horner, the town is now raising third and fourth generations of prescription drug addicted people. The most common way that people come across such drugs is by their friends and family - not some stereotypical drug dealer.